GEORGETOWN, Del. - On National Voter Registration Day, Sept. 17, La Esperanza, a multiservice nonprofit organization dedicated to assisting Latino and immigrant communities in Sussex County, in partnership with the Delaware Hispanic Commission, hosted an event to provide information on voter registration and help individuals with the registration process.
During the event, La Esperanza assisted almost 40 citizens with their registration process.
"We invited new citizens to come here today to be with us. We invited others to come," Dr. Jennifer Fuqua, executive director of La Esperanza, said. "If they were interested in registering to vote, we would help them to figure out how to do it and also to participate in democracy, so we're very excited."
Rony Baltazar-López, vice chair of the commission, spoke about the power of the Latino vote and civic participation.
"It's important to vote because we have the power to change elections in the state of Delaware when one in 10 Delawareans are of Hispanic origin," Baltazar-López said. "In Delaware, in 2020, we had about 19,000 individuals who are of Hispanic descent come out and vote in the presidential elections. That's a big number for us in the state of Delaware for Hispanic voters. We can only go up from here."
Marleny García, a new citizen, registered to vote for the first time during the event.
"I'm very excited right now," García said. "I'm so happy to see a lot of people here."
The deadline to register to vote is Saturday, Oct. 12.
To be eligible to register and vote, individuals must be U.S. citizens, residents of Delaware, and at least 18 years old by General Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5.
To register, participants must present a Delaware driver's license or state identification card or a copy of a current utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck, or other government document showing their name and address.
To learn more about the candidates for the upcoming election, visit coasttv.com/decision2024/.
